U.S./World category, Page 996
It’s cloudy with a chance of iron rain at hot, faraway planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — At one hot, faraway world, it’s always cloudy with a chance of iron rain. That’s the otherworldly forecast from Swiss and other European astronomers who have detected clouds full of iron droplets at a hot Jupiterlike planet 390 light-years away. This mega planet is so hot...
AP sources: Feds wiretap former DEA supervisor in leak probe
MIAMI — Federal investigators took the unusual step of wiretapping a retired supervisor in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami office as part of an inquiry into whether sensitive case information was leaked to attorneys for suspected drug traffickers in Colombia, current and former law enforcement officials told The Associated...
Inside a massive DEA raid targeting a drug cartel
CHANTILLY, Va. — In the darkness, team members suit up quietly, putting on their helmets and tactical gear. Federal agents lug battering rams, bolt cutters and heavy weaponry by foot up a hill on a residential California street that’s softly aglow from street lamps. Then the agents turn onto the...
Afghans set to release 1,500 Taliban; U.S. wants less violenceVideo
KABUL, Afghanistan — After a series of delays, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree early Wednesday promising to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started. A recent peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban called for the release of up...
France, Spain honor hundreds of terrorism victims, vow unity
PARIS — The president of France and the king of Spain paid homage Wednesday to victims of terrorism in a special ceremony prompted by attacks that hit both their countries and changed Europe’s security posture. France’s Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia led a ceremony on Trocadero...
Down syndrome abortion ban is going before a federal court
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal court in Cincinnati will hear complex legal arguments Wednesday for and against Ohio’s Down syndrome abortion ban in a case viewed as pivotal in the national debate over the procedure. Attorneys for the government contend in legal filings that the sidelined 2017 law does not...
Family of man convicted of Lockerbie bombing can appeal
LONDON — Scotland’s criminal appeals body said Wednesday that the family of a Libyan man jailed for the 1988 bombing of an American airliner over the town of Lockerbie can launch a posthumous appeal against his conviction. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is...
Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years for sexual assaults
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, a sight the disgraced Hollywood mogul’s multitude of accusers thought they would never see. Weinstein, who has been accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a once-aspiring...
Nuclear waste cleanup efforts in Washington could be delayed
RICHLAND, Wash. — The Department of Energy has announced priority plans for environmental cleanup nationwide and indicates a slower process for the decommissioned nuclear site in Washington state, a report said. The focus at the Hanford Site will be to start treating waste at the $17 billion vitrification plant, but...
Police shooting leads to tension, protests in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. — A police shooting that wounded a suspect during a foot chase in Raleigh, N.C., sparked protests early Wednesday from hundreds who demanded answers and burned a flag outside the governor’s mansion. Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said officers responded to a 911 call Tuesday evening reporting a man...
Russia passes bill allowing Putin to stay in power past 2024
MOSCOW — The Russian parliament approved a sweeping constitutional reform in the third and final reading Wednesday, a move that will allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for another 12 years after his current term ends in 2024. The Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma, endorsed a set...
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones arrested on DWI charges in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested in Texas on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated after his wife called police to their house over an argument, according to court records released Tuesday. The Infowars founder was booked into an Austin jail shortly after midnight and released...
Store owner charged after homemade sanitizer burns youths
RIVER VALE, N.J. — A convenience store owner in New Jersey reacting to the coronavirus outbreak created and sold a spray sanitizer that left four children with burns, state and county law enforcement officials said. Authorities on Tuesday issued a summons charging Manisha Bharade, 47, of Wood-Ridge with endangering the...
West Virginia delegate loses suit blaming bar for blindness
GARY, Ind. — The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled against a lawsuit filed by a West Virginia delegate over a 2006 parking lot brawl that left him blinded years before he was elected to office. The lawsuit said Cavanaugh’s Sports Bar & Eatery, near Gary, had an obligation to protect...
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is turned away from polls, told he ‘wasn’t in the system’Video
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mayor of Kansas City struggled to vote Tuesday in the Missouri presidential primary after a worker mistakenly entered his name in the system. Mayor Quinton Lucas, a Democrat, made a video about the importance of voting before he headed into his normal polling location, Mount...
Louisiana couple accused of stealing $1,000 worth of beer from Target
BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana couple accused of swiping more than $1,000 worth of beer from the shelves of Target stores was arrested on theft charges Sunday, sheriff’s office records show. East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the beer burglaries last week, according to the agency. The couple...
Putin backs amendment allowing him to remain in power
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday backed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek re-election after his current term ends in 2024, ending uncertainty about his future. Putin gave his support to the amendment put forward by lawmaker Valentina Tereshkova, who as a Soviet cosmonaut...
Man convicted of murder flees Alabama prison for 2nd time
SPRINGVILLE, Ala. — A man serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder escaped an Alabama prison early Tuesday for the second time in less than 20 years. Steve Ray Murphy, 64, escaped from the St. Clair Correctional Facility shortly after midnight, according to a Tuesday statement from the...
Israeli court rejects Netanyahu request to delay trial
JERUSALEM — A Jerusalem district court on Tuesday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to delay the start of his corruption trial, ruling it would begin as planned next week. Netanyahu’s lawyers had appealed for a delay, saying they needed more time to review evidence. State prosecutors responded that they...
Cops: Ohio father fatally shoots infant’s mom during child visit
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — A man fatally shot the mother of his infant child when she brought the baby to an apartment complex so he could visit with the child, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 6 p.m. Monday at the Pine Tree Apartments in Washington Court House, according...
Kremlin says Trump not coming to Moscow for Victory Day
MOSCOW — President Donald Trump will not be coming to Moscow for Victory Day celebrations on May 9, the Kremlin said Tuesday. Russia has repeatedly invited Trump to visit Moscow on the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II — the nation’s most important holiday. Trump said last year...
Saudi Arabia increase oil output to record highVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco said Tuesday it would increase its crude oil production to 12.3 million barrels a day in April, a record amount. The move seems to make good on the country’s promise over the weekend to increase output after Russia...
Mom, son safe after 52 hours trapped in China hotel rubbleVideo
BEIJING — A 10-year-old boy and his mother have been rescued 52 hours after being trapped in the collapse of a virus quarantine site in southeastern China where 20 people have died. Video released by rescuers showed the two being pulled from the debris of the hotel that collapsed on...
Singapore races to save bedazzled tombs of the rich
SINGAPORE — In a country that manufactures nature by building air-conditioned forest domes and towering vertical gardens, the decommissioned Bukit Brown Cemetery remains an unlikely stretch of wild jungle surrounded by modern high-rises and multimillion-dollar single-family homes. Its estimated 90,000 tombs are a link to Singapore’s early Chinese pioneers, and...
The preventable death of an asylum seeker in a solitary cell
Roylan Hernandez Diaz’s long journey ended inside a white-walled cell in the solitary confinement wing of a Louisiana prison. Nearby were the last of his belongings: a tube of toothpaste, a few foam cups, and a sheet of paper explaining how he could request his release from immigration detention. He...
